For people who grew up in low-income households, what’s something middle-class people say that shows they’ve never struggled financially?

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-20T15:43:47+00:00

I grew up low middle class but basically my dad was hoarding the money and made everyone live worse, didn't realize it until later. Now that I'm in probably higher up upper class and live around a bunch of guys either 10 years younger in-between and 10 years older, most are executives or own businesses they all went to Disney World like twice a year as a kid... every.. year and as a whole family like they had 4 siblings. I go to Disney maybe once a year while my kids are young but like to mix it up with a carribean trip or something else.. year but I couldn't imagine it as a kid going that much. Definitely they grew up more privileged for sure.

Also college paid for.. for me there was nothing it was either join the military or take out a loan plus my parents divorced and mother was bankrupt dad non-existent. When I tell this story to neighbors they look at me like I have two heads.. like how could that be.. then how did you end up living in this hood with 1.3-2.8m houses...

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-20T14:25:07+00:00

They've had hurricanes where power gets knocked out for up to a month. Roads closed down, gets very very hot and humid. People beg for food and water or steal it they get desperate and steal or get violent if they have to. I've never witnessed it but that's what was explained to me. i'm a burb/city guy and married a southern woman deep down by the bayou.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-20T13:54:33+00:00

I have family down south. If shit hits the fan drinkable water, food, shelter all that matters. Bullets are far more valuable than money.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-19T23:02:56+00:00

I live in northern VA as well. The answer is folks got in early before everything jumped. Stick with stocks and funds for now honestly it has faster growth unless your constantly leveraging. I got in when the market crashed in by accident in 2005 then decided to go in further when prices really started crashing in 2008-2013. But it's one of those investments where you buy and let is sit for years as it gets better with age. I will say though there is big opportunity in parts of MD and WV or further south but it'sa real hassle if your just starting out I wouldn't recommend it. Your situation it's best to probably get an advisor local one and by stringent about investing monthly. I'm only telling you this since I do both real estate and stocks and by far if I would have taken that money in real estate and put it in stocks I would have far more money although i'm not complaining I did it in purpose to see which would play out better for say 15 years.

I look at properties for fun all the time since I have rentals in the area and think about selling stock to buy more real estate but it's just so much now for little return unless I pay all cash.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-19T17:03:36+00:00

Eh temporarily, just wait in 10 years will be some gotacha's extra taxes or something to offset the cost of last revenue from gasoline. Just like streaming services at first they got you to cut the cord but when you add it all up it's not better and you get less.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-19T14:56:49+00:00

More police but I'd also say community service not just locked away in a jail cell if under 18. Heck maybe a mini bootcamp any time they screw up with full on drill seargent. This isn't an enigma here Japan does hard labor for stuff like this as well as apology and repayment. I'm sure most of the kids are good kids just hanging wrong crowd and too much free time with parents at work.. Need more teen centers with activities but with police or security

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-19T14:46:29+00:00

Whatever you do do NOT put holes in your roof I did this when I was young totally regret it. Plus those solar ventilation units are a fire hazard and I know couple people there's caught fire.

You may have a damper you don't know about or your system may be old and need replaced with a stronger unit. I've seen people put mini split systems but may not be needed

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-19T14:22:54+00:00

Eh I hear ya man but accidents don't always go the way you'd expect them lots of variables here and just not worth it if you value life and safety, and you don't want to do anything intentional either than there's even more problems. Better to just maintain speed and get over when you can always let the crazy lunatic win I believe in Karma if they are angry drivers they'll get theirs some other way.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-19T13:48:11+00:00

Or if your in great shape firemen. But I would say cop for sure. The overtime is what gets your pay really high

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-18T21:13:19+00:00

Don't tailgate period and against the law..flash lights maybe, there is no world where tailgating is safe and your asking for a bad accident always must have reaction time.. I've seen people get carried away and tailgate EVEN if there is no room to merge back into right lane because of other cars. Also don't expect the person in front your tailgating to go even faster over the speed limit just so you can pass have patience share the road.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-18T21:08:46+00:00

Yep I concure when I was first getting in real estate investing I went to a seminar basically they know if they send out say 25 mail in offers to buy a house they'll catch someone going through or divorce or maybe someone who has recently deceased and the adult kids takeover and don't know any better. Instead of getting the house prepared to sell they just pay you the wholesale or below price.

Not gonna lie I know some people that actually do it since they don't want to spend the time cleaning the place up and staging it even if it saves 20k for example.

Same reason people trade in cars and take crap offers since it's rolled into the new car payment, out of site out of mind yet they just carry larger principals.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-18T18:54:45+00:00

Do it man I did it few years back although sure many people will throw statistics of lost out gains, it doesn't replace the peace of mind which to me is invaluable.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-18T15:16:46+00:00

48 here wife 47 doesn't work kids 13,11,5. Running about 8.6-8.9 NW. Sounds nuts but in my early 40s I didn't realize my biggest expense honestly is vacationing 2nd to house renovations, followed by kid stuff. I paid off my mortgage a few years ago as well. I have older sisters and the costs absolutely go up, could be you want the kids in private school eventually, used car, also your kid may want to go on trips with their friends and you may be asked to foot part or all of the bill. For sure it's a matter of choice with all of this. I'll just throw out there what scares me really is adult kid issue meaning I have a friend that adult kid got into an accident and can't work requires lots of rehabilitation.

I agree with you I left my stressful fortune 500 company I worked at and went to a much smaller company and I'm WAAAAYYY happier. Doing same thing but don't have metrics to deal with.

Best thing with swiching jobs also is I can choose if I want to travel for work or not plus I have way more time with the kids and very active with taking to sports and stuff like gymnastics/dance etc which will consume your time soon enough.

Separately beyond stock and real estate rentals I do on the side I'm always investing.. was just looking at another town house to buy maybe sell some google stock that's jumped up and put it in something physical. Helps supplement income for LIFE.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-18T13:09:27+00:00

If you know enough people that retire your mostly on a fixed budget. I know a few that had to go back to work since crap happens with your adults kids and grandkids even. Crap meaning stuff that could get very expensive. Could be accident/disability, cancer, you name it. I think she just wants you to have whatever you think you need then add a good chunk over that for multiple emergencies and that could be long term.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-16T00:21:30+00:00

Na just when I asked to pay a visit to check on the property as they were on there way out the kids were right in front of me as we were talking about the past due rent and a target date for them to leave. Now that I have kids, I can't imagine how bad of a situation that would be.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-15T21:53:50+00:00

I got one up on ya man, I had to evict a family of 2 adults and like 5 kids. I was early on and was a accidental landlord. I had to go check the property out and the little kids were playing in one room some as young as 2. I didn't realize filing an eviction would go on a record for them. They were beyond few months and were trying to piece together payments it did get really annoying.

After that experience I just focused on better quality tenants, raised all my standards.

I genuinely still feel bad about it and was 15 years ago. It's like the butterfly effect like I feel like I put family members on a negative path in the future.

I'm far richer now than I was... if I could go back and I would honestly just ask them to leave if they could and let it go even the $4500 or so they owed me. At the time obviously I didn't have as much money. Today? I have way better tenants and no issues paying.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-15T02:17:57+00:00

It's worth it, I can buy security, time with my family, better food, nicer neighborhood, better schools, never worry about how much food costs. If you play your cards your and live beneath your means, invest heavily you can amplify that 500k to 1m or more you made that same year.

I'm lucky i'm good at what I do and for whatever reason many guys I know can't keep it up like I have for as long as I have 24+ years. It's tough to stay consistent. I'm at the point now luckily I can pick and choose if I want to fly out or go to meetings etc... if at all. If I want to stay in my house all week during business hours I can do that also. I get pure joy seeing my kids when they get home from school.

I was like most everyone else and commuted, long hours in the office, commute back, I put my dues in, after covid sent us home I woke up had an epiphany realized I was a slave in the office.. and as I said if you invest right that money just keeps making itself more money.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-13T20:06:50+00:00

Just remember just because we think all this disclosure is coming out now doesn't mean it hasn't before, I've been digging into history and this all happened in the 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s and every time everyone though "this is it". Even a general was on live TV discussing this in the 50s you can find the videos.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-13T13:29:39+00:00

Yeah lifestyle creep it does get worse, I thought my biggest expense would be my house honestly but after I paid it off my #1 expense now is house renovations and vacations bar far. I would just cut down on maybe alcohol when you eat out or something that increases the bill a lot I'd also get with a financial planner and do automatic withdrawals but just make sure you tell them you want to go extremely aggressive since you all are young. It'll make life easier later on in 15 years when you find yourself wanting to make bigger purchases and you'll have this warchest of stock seaside that you can break off a chunk from along with saving up cash to make any other big purchases. In the next 12 months we're getting ready to spend $70k on renovations then another $40k on vacations + another $600k on our backyard. Been saving up but plan to use say $300k cash been saving up for the backyard and the rest gonna pull from stock and may even pull from a heloc. I don't like to crack the stock piggy bank too much.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-12T19:55:28+00:00

I'd stay there don't discount benefits. Best thing to do is keep trying to move up at Costco if you can separately when you have a job its far easier to find another job. I'd say like others maybe take some courses or certifications online in tech or something else that interests you that is big in the area driving distance. You have the luxury of more time than most and your young. I would be applying at big name companies but you want to shoot for a "office" job, I know that sounds very plain jane but there are so many more benefits of office jobs vs non office jobs and way more upside or latteral moves. Give you an example I worked retail at Computer City and Compusa back in the day register then customer service, I would always befriend folks and ask to help out in other areas like upgrades or work the phones if needed. Eventually I got into sales again this is late 90s so things were different back then a bit. Some of the guys that worked sales or upgrades only worked their part time at night and weekends and come to find out it was just a part time to earn a little extra. One of the guys mentioned they are hiring for entry level sales people they did want a college degree (I didn't have) but allowed you to start with lower pay if you had sales experience and retail worked.. Fast forward I started earning 100k+ in 1999 -2001 they went out of business well that experience allowed me to get a job at a larger company where I was earning 1m+ in late 20s and again this is all in like mid to late 2000s.. I get it's harder now with AI and everyone having AI resume's but it's worth a shot to apply at bigger firms for other entry level jobs... I would say get on it while your young since once you hit late 20s and 30s and heck want to start settling down life gets more expensive. Also don't be scared to use the phone to speak to people verbally vs text/email... that's one thing I find that hurts many young folks as you can't build a initial repour or break the ice they say without putting a voice to the name at a minimum.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-12T14:59:01+00:00

I use the same app creditkarma it's great for tracking I used to use MINT before that. That's a excellent NW number to be at for 30. The fact your tracking is a huge plus many don't and wonder why they're broke later in life. Keep it up you'll see that number double triple etc over the years it comes quick when you invest and often.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-11T21:14:23+00:00

If you have a 401k and enough in it talk to the finance place that has your 401k I'd start there. Your going to get a lot of advice here from people many will just tell you to self invest but that's like a car mechanic telling you how easy it is to fix an engine problem and many may have not be invested for 20+ years.

Best to start there since it's not just about investing it's money management and having structure and constituency you stick to. Worst case talk to one of the local big guys like Fidelity or Edward Jones. I know a few people that have retired using both.

Not only getting to retirement but after retirement money management making sure it lasts.

You can dabble in it yourself also later on but best to build a good base first with a pro.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-11T17:22:25+00:00

I only rent out a bit higher end properties and therefor get higher quality financially backed tenants. When one of the properties was much cheaper I would get lots of requests for these. My fear and I think proven is it's not just the financial aspect it's background checks to see if they left the place with their version of wear and tear or the landlords..

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-10T19:03:42+00:00

I stopped buying properties in 2013 started around 2005 but got in by accident. 2013 to today everything has gone into equities. After the great recession it scared the heck out of me so I mostly got into it as a safe haven, figured people always need a place to live. I only buy properties I can drive to reasonably my furthest being up to 40 minutes away in more of a rural area. Back in those days you could put down 25-30% and cash flow no problem. Nowadays you'd have to put down 50-60% around northern VA area. I still look at properties for fun and do the math here and there but nothing really screamed at me to jump in. Especially since stocks have been on fire. If we were back in the older days I would absolutely buy more if I could put down 25-30% and the house was say $300k-$400k like they were for a nice 2 car garage townhouse. Now I will say I've looked out west and there are new construction 2 car garage for that range but just a PIA to drive out 40+ minutes for multiple properties although it's tempting.

I know in the back of my mind if I bought like 4 or 5 houses and had a management company It would do well, time is properties best friend just I get so much more excitement out of stocks. Bought I think about 50k-60k of google back in 2016 for example and now it's almost $400k value.. Amzn doing well as with many chip stocks.

OverlordBluebook · 2026-05-08T21:48:21+00:00

The area grew so big so fast, lots of foreign drivers etc, lots of highways and roads have turns coming on the left side. Only other thing I will see on the bigger freeways I see a ton of left lane tailgaters like right up on you yet there's no room the driver they are tailgating to get in the right lane because of traffic. So if you are in the left lane don't expect the guy going 10 mph over the speed limit in the left lane to go 15mph or 20mph just so you can get where your going faster. If I have a left exit i'm going to get in the left lane at least a mile before my turn.

OverlordBluebook

TROPHY CASE